It Takes a Dreamhttp://mikebellah.com
Blogging through Retirement with Mike Bellah, Ph.D.
Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:50:39 +0000 en-US
hourly
1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.1.5What Retirement Taught Me about Social Distancinghttp://mikebellah.com/?p=2766
http://mikebellah.com/?p=2766#commentsThu, 09 Apr 2020 01:34:50 +0000http://mikebellah.com/?p=2766Couldn’t help but notice—my early days of retirement and this social distancing thing are alike—same isolation, same sense of aimlessness, same anxiety.

So I learned some things from the first that are helping me with the second. Phrased as advice for others, they are . . .

You are not alone. Reach out to others (can you say “zoom”?).

You may have lost a job; you have not lost your calling, your purpose.

Be careful what you read (watch). Fear is contagious. So is hope.

Money is not your greatest asset. Hope is. Hope will find the assets you need to move forward.

Take care of yourself so you can take care of others.

Make having fun a priority. “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

There will be life after all this. Don’t stop believing. Don’t stop dreaming.

]]>http://mikebellah.com/?feed=rss2&p=27661My Almost Free Ebook Giveawayhttp://mikebellah.com/?p=2761
http://mikebellah.com/?p=2761#respondSun, 05 Apr 2020 22:39:39 +0000http://mikebellah.com/?p=2761Wanna make a friend smile during these days of quarantine? My book is not only about retirement. It’s about health, creativity, fun and, yes, hope—no matter how old you are.

ANNOUNCING MY ALMOST FREE EBOOK GIVEAWAY

Starting Monday, April 6 and for a limited time, I’m almost giving away the e-version of my book.

Almost—because Amazon has hoops I don’t want to jump through to make it totally free.

So the new price is 99¢. I would like to give 100s of these, but I’ll need your help. You can give e-books to friends even if they don’t yet have a Kindle app on their phone or tablet. They’ll get an email that will mention you and lead them through the process to accept their e-book and download the app (just takes a click or two).

Enough of this Coronavirus talk. Today, I want to talk about my happy thought, the birthday present I gave myself this year.

I’m talking about a Diamondback, Hardtail Mountain Bike, complete with aluminum frame, 27.5 inch wheels and disk brakes, all new features for me.

I have a long history with mountain bikes, starting at age nine when I removed the rear fender from my Western Flyer, making it a prototype of things to come. In the 80s, still before there were many mountain bikes, I owned a Schwinn Mesa Runner, its knobby wheels and straight handle bars a foretaste of what was to come (still no front shocks or really wide tires).

In 1999, I bought my first real mountain bike, a Bianchi Lynx at a pawn shop in Amarillo. It still had no shocks, but after a few years of bumpy rides, I had a pair installed on the front. In 20 years, I’m guessing I put well over 40,000 miles on that bike. And I discovered the pleasure of rails-to-trails—old railroad right-of-ways where the crossties have been removed and a more bike-friendly path created (most are still too rough for road bikes).

Anyway, in recent years, there has been an explosion of new rails-to-trails around the U.S. I don’t know if I’ll put 40K on this bike, but I intend to give it a try.

So, weather permitting, every day I’m out on the I-27 service road, enjoying the outdoors and conditioning for those rides to come.

And, if you have a good rails-to-trails near you, please let me know about it. Maybe you can join me.

]]>http://mikebellah.com/?feed=rss2&p=27562Life after Coronavirushttp://mikebellah.com/?p=2752
http://mikebellah.com/?p=2752#respondTue, 24 Mar 2020 14:33:35 +0000http://mikebellah.com/?p=2752Of course, there will be life after the Coronavirus. Just a little knowledge of history tells us that.

Our grandparents got on with life after both the Great War and the Great Depression.

Ditto for our parents after World War II.

In my generation, we’ve seen the assassination of an American president, two major stock market crashes and the tragedy of 9/11.

And life went on; we recovered, sometimes sooner rather than later (which I’m predicting for our stock market, but that’s another column).

So what will life be like in America six months from now? One year from now?

Was thinking about these questions when asking God how to spend my days now.

His answer (not spoken but a clear thought):

Do now what will prepare you for life then. Hmm, will need to chew on this for a while.

]]>http://mikebellah.com/?feed=rss2&p=27520The Darksidehttp://mikebellah.com/?p=2745
http://mikebellah.com/?p=2745#respondSat, 07 Mar 2020 14:01:20 +0000http://mikebellah.com/?p=2745Well, it happened. I got my first negative review on Amazon. Came from a guy named The Darkside. Yep, a little spooky.

Didn’t know whether to purchase a lightsaber or string garlic around my computer.

Anyway, Darkside’s critique was insightful. Evidently, I “started off good,” but “dragged on with little substance especially for a gen Xer.”

So I have two questions: One, what is a Gen Xer doing reading a retirement book, and, two, what would constitute “more substance” for said generation? Maybe something from “The “Outsiders”? Say, “Stay gold, Pony Boy. Stay gold.”

Also, Darkside said I had a lot of “baby boom” references that “flew over” his head.

Uh, excuse me Mr. DS, but current retirees ARE baby boomers.

Finally, I’m pretty sure Darkside outed himself in his last sentence where he complained that my book had too many appendices and reference pages.

She made a Tooth Fairy Pillow for Great Britain’s Prince George (William and Kate’s firstborn) and a Christmas stocking for Dusty Hill, base player for ZZ Top.

My friend Jan Cook has one of the most creative and unique retirement gigs I’ve seen.

This former Special Ed teacher and now agent in her husband’s financial service company calls what she does “Heirloom Sewing,” heirloom because she makes everything from antique, vintage materials, “which,” says Cook, “makes them instant heirlooms.”

I want to know how the royal couple found her in Midland, Texas. Cook’s answer is long and involves friends, ambassadors and newspapers, but, suffice it to say, she has been written up in both the French and British press.

By the way, the prince’s pillow was made of materials from Greece, plus a piece of lace from Princes Di, which had been in her family since the 1760s. Cook said it took five days to complete. Afterwards, this West Texas seamstress received a “lovely thank you letter” from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Cook says wedding garters (a favorite of her customers) take about an hour to craft, personalized pillows about 15-20

Name of God Pillow

hours and covered wedding albums can take up to 60 hours. Yep, she is one busy lady, but, she says, she has yet to turn business away. “It’s not just a business but a passion,” she tells me. “I work a lot, but” (as she grins) “it keeps me off the street and out of bars.”

Lately, I’ve been impressed with Cook’s perseverance. 2019 was a tough year for her. In addition to the illness and death of people close to her, she suffered a life-threatening, poisonous spider bite that put her in the hospital for 12 days. “I can state unequivocally that the Lord just saw me through the year,” she says.

Cook’s faith seems to be the key to both her craft and attitude. She tells me she is a “glass-half-full” kind of person. Despite her recent troubles, she talks about how blessed she has been by family and friends. “All of this, plus a business I love, makes me get up in the morning. Every day is a gift from God, and I want to live it to the fullest.”

]]>http://mikebellah.com/?feed=rss2&p=27358Happy Birthday to George and Mehttp://mikebellah.com/?p=2731
http://mikebellah.com/?p=2731#respondSat, 22 Feb 2020 12:50:07 +0000http://mikebellah.com/?p=2731On February 22, 1732 George Washington was born on a plantation near Fredericksburg, Virginia. And on the same date in 1949, I was born in Canyon.

Have always been proud of the association with our first president. As have other friends of mine who share the same birthday.

Seems we all grew up having Washington-themed parties, which meant red, white and blue cakes decorated with cherry trees. I know the story about young George cutting down his father’s tree turned out to be myth, but we still believe it. That is, we believe our hero would have fessed up, should he have done the deed, and should his father have asked.

We’re protective of our famous birthday-sharer like that. Which is why we were upset with the 90th Congress, when, in 1968, they changed the celebration of George’s birthday to the third Monday in February. To give three-day holidays to government employees, they said.

Pleeeze.

Then, some states (12 to be exact) changed the name to President’s Day (to include Lincoln, they said). Hey, we’re dealing with national pride here. Might as well change the 4th of July to the 1st Monday in . . . you see my point.

Anyway, today’s blog is written in honor of my favorite national hero, who just happens to share my birthday. Happy 288th, George.

Elizabeth White calls herself the “poster child for broke baby boomers.” It’s not a moniker you would expect for this attractive, sixty-something lady with advanced degrees from Harvard and Johns Hopkins.

But it happened. After a distinguished career living in places like Paris and Gambia, West Africa, and working for the likes of the World Bank, White ended up (in her words) “55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal.”

When the shock of not getting any responses to her resume wore off, she looked around and noticed that there were millions of others in the same predicament. Not only were good-paying job prospects bleak for aging boomers, their 401(k)’s were woefully inadequate, and, therefore, quickly depleted.

White has stats to back it up. “According to the Federal Reserve, the median amount in 401(k) savings for all working households was $2,500, factoring in all those zeros for households with no savings at all. For near-retirement households age 55 to 64, the median account balance was $14,500.”

But White has not surrendered to victimhood. She says her book is about “how we can learn from one another and share what we know. It’s about the practical steps we can take to secure ourselves in our fourth quarter.”

White says she may be broke, but she is not broken. She admonishes readers to stop mourning and start managing their losses.

How does one do that? White offers a number of practical steps, including “smalling-up” (figuring out what you can afford and getting rid of the rest) and forming “reliance circles” (a small group of friends to “support each other and to discuss issues on aging and living a good life on limited income”).

In addition, she suggests what I do in my book—developing multiple income streams (things like Uber driving and hosting a bnb) to help make up the shortfall. White’s list of examples is the best I’ve seen and the book is worth its price for that alone (chapter 9).

]]>http://mikebellah.com/?feed=rss2&p=27220Get the Shot!http://mikebellah.com/?p=2718
http://mikebellah.com/?p=2718#commentsSun, 16 Feb 2020 22:16:48 +0000http://mikebellah.com/?p=2718I haven’t blogged for about three weeks, but I have an excuse. Can give it to you in one word. Are you ready?

Shingles.

For those of you who have walked in my shoes, I need say no more. For the rest of you,

GET THE SHOT!

Actually, I have been journaling. But the pieces were too whiny and depressing to share. Here’s a sample:

Day 4: “My grace is sufficient for you.” Is it?

Day 5: Am going from passable (I can bear the pain) to miserable (no way; I can’t do this).

Day 6: Trying to function in public and appear normal. Isn’t that the way most of life is?

Day 11: I think it’s day 11. Have lost touch—just living from pain pill to pain pill.

Day 12: Think I experienced a turning point last night. Oh, I hope so.

Day 16: Taught Sunday school this morning and looked sort of normal. Sort of.

Sorry, but I have no profound insight from all of this. Just wanted you to know why I was silent. Oh, and I have one small suggestion:

“Why not now”? said my friend Sheryl Bullock who, approaching a 70th birthday, has written her first children’s book. “Why not take what we are learning and do something vibrant and exciting with it.”

According to Bullock, The Journey of the Doll Cradle sprang from a 14-month experience as a foster grandmother, a time when she realized the “disruption” and “upheaval” some children face. Bullock’s story tells of a doll cradle left behind accidentally when its owner, Cassie, and her parents move.

As it gets passed from place to place, the cradle develops “confidence and resiliency,” traits Bullock said are necessary for foster children and adoptees who face similar life transitions.

Bullock had advice for other retirees who want to write children’s stories. “Do some research at the library on how to write for kids. Join a local writers’ group and seek feedback from people who are willing to mentor you.”

Bullock’s enthusiasm for writing is palatable. Also, I was taken by her perspective on aging: “I feel like aging is really about growing whole rather than growing old. I like that. It makes me excited about the future.”